Listening the important skill

Life gets so busy and people have so much to do that listening is not always easy. I had the privilege of visiting with a senior this week that was quite delightful. I thought if someone could just take ten minutes a day to spend with this lady so much of her loneliness would be lifted. Unfortunately the activities in the building do not provide enough stimulation for this lady. The activity program in assisted living centers are often times at the bottom of the priority for budgets. When there is a robust activity program facilities find they have less complaints and happier residents. We visited for about an hour and a half, hopefully she will take the initiative to explore more of what the facility has to offer.

Care Giver Training

This past week I was privileged to observe a training in a facility that the nurse was presenting to caregivers. Training was on resident rights. The question being discussed was how to balance resident rights with resident safety. A resident had a recliner lift chair and wished to have use of the controller. The staff were concerned she would accidentally flip herself out of the chair. One caregiver stated she had placed the controller beside the resident's leg and requested she call for assistance when she wanted to get out of the chair. Another caregiver stated that perhaps they could check on her hourly. Another caregiver volunteered and said "we need to include this on the service plan". Another caregiver suggested "lets ask the resident what she would like". By the end of the training almost everyone present had contributed something about the care for this resident.

Observing interaction between care giving staff and trainers is a another means to evaluate a facility and how they provide for residents. When the caregivers are engaged in the decisions about the care they provide and feel they are being listened to then it is a good probability you will see the care givers listening to what residents are saying.